Multilayer laminates have found use in a wide variety of applications, from exploratory space vehicles to consumer products. Many of these applications rely on the exceptional strength and structural integrity that multilayer laminates can provide.
Because of the strength and structural integrity of multilayer laminates, conventional delamination processes typically result in the destruction or degradation of one or more layers of a laminate. One conventional delamination process, for example, is directed to multilayer laminates in which layers are bonded together with an adhesive layer. In this delamination process, the multilayer laminate structure is heated in an oven until the adhesive layer softens. Once the adhesive has been sufficiently heated, the adhesive becomes soft enough for the surrounding layers to be separated by mechanical means.
In some applications, the temperature increase during the delamination process does not significantly degrade the layers surrounding the adhesive. However, in other applications the temperature increase may cause enough damage to the surrounding layers to render the layers partially or completely unusable. Delamination by heating a multilayer laminate stack used in a typical LCD touch screen application, for example, is likely to destroy the touch screen's LCD functionality, although the resulting delaminated layers might still be usable in some types of failure analysis.